Car-starter



(No Model.)

J. H. PALMER.

GAR STARTER.

Patented Feb. 26, 1889.

N. PETERS. Phmo-Llhagnpher. washington Dy C.

UNTTED STATES PATENT EETEE.

JEE E. PALMER, or EooKAwAY, NEW JERSEY.

CAMSTARTEH SPECIFICATON forming part 0f Letters Patent No. 398,438, dated February 26, 1889.

Application tiled Mey '7, 1288. Serial No. 273,064. (No model.).

To @ZZ whom il; may concern:

tached.

' suitable construction of car-starter which shall be simple and durable in operation and easily manipulated.

In carrying out my invention I connect the car-starter to the car-body and preferably to 4the under part of the front platform, and' couple it with the axle or axles of the car by chains and sprocket-wheels, or otherwise.

The starter itself consists, essentially, of a friction-clutch between the starter-shaft and a loose wheel having a spirally-arran ged rope or chain groove, and over which the rope or chain passes to connect said grooved wheel with the draw-bar to which the horses are at- This draw-bar is normally locked against being drawn out after the car is started, but at starting the lock is removed, so that the rope or chain is drawn out, rotating the grooved wheel with a preferably gradually-increasing velocity, and this, through the mediation of the friction-clutch, causes the car to be put ini o motion. After the ear is started the clutch automatically loosened, and a spring device ret-urns the parts to their normal positions when the draw-bar is locked, as before.

The principle on which the apparatus op- Acrates is that the horses travel a greater distance than the car in starting it from a state of rest over given space; and, furthermore, with a steady and uniform pull on the drawbar the ear is caused to move with a gradually-accelerated motion, whereby the final action of the draw-bar brings the car to its proper speed.

Another feature of my improvements is that while the horses start off with a pull of great leverage, starting the car from state of rest easily, their final. pull on the draw-bar and v the starter is not being used.

rope or chain is as if the pull were directly upon the car-body, and hence all of the chan ges are gradual and there are no sudden strains upon the horses.

In the drawings, Figure l is a sectional side elevation of the forward end of a car with my improvement applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the car-starter removed. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of same on line :t 9c. Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation of same on line yy. Fig. 5 is across-sectional elevation of Fig. i on line ,e fc, and Fig. 6 is a sec- Ational side elevation of a car with a modification of my invention applied thereto.

A is the car-body.

B is the car-starter proper, and is connected thereto at any convenient place, preferably un'der the front platform, as shown. is communicated from the starter to the axles E by means of the sprocket-wheels C d and chain l), or by gearing or other suitable well* known power-transinit-ting devices.

Referring now to the ear-starter per Se, F is the draw-bar, to which the horses are attached in any convenient manner. This draw-bar F is connected to a wire rope or chain, f, and iirst passes under the guide-pulley R on the axis r, and then to the wheel J, passing around its groove j and being secured at its distant end. This groove j is preferably like a spiral, so that as the rope is'pulled and the wheel J rotates the leverage becomes less and less until it equals the pitch of the sprocketwhecl C on the starter-shaft K, and as the sprocket-wheels C and d are preferably of unequal diameters the final pull by the horses equals the pull upon the car direct. By

this means the horses start off at a given pull which is substantially equal to that of the car in full motion, and as the car has its speed increased the leverage decreases, so that the pull of the horses remains the same.

G is a lock to hold the drauubar in when This lock con sists of a pivoted lever fulcrumed on r, and having a slotted end at t, which lits down around the draw-bar and prevents its being pulled ont.

H is a footalever which acts upon a rear extension of the lever G and causes it to, be oscillated to unlock the draw-bar when desired MotionV TOO Secured to the shaft li is the i: tion band-wheel L, and upon its hub or shaft is loosely journaled the grooved wheel J.

M is a steel friction-band and connects at its ends with two transverse pins or rods, O

and P, secured to a U-shaped frame, N, pivoted to the wheel J, and an extension thereof at n, or between the rods O and P and the central shaft, K. The extension of the wheel J- is J', and is secured to it by the connectingbars J il. This frame N is free to oscillate on n as a fulcrum, and in doing so .its movement in one direction makes the band M bind upon the band-wheel, and in the other direction causes the band to become loose upon the bandwheel. The rod P is made to extend from bothv ends through slots c in the wheel J and extension J and are connected to the ends of springs p, encircling the bearings t' and having their other ends connected with the frame l, as shown in Fig. 2.

It is evident that if the wheel J is moved in the direction of the arrow the springs 19 will pull upon the rods P in the opposite direction and cause the frame N to rotate on P as a fulcrum and tighten the band upon the bandwheel L. As the wheel J is moved around, the band-wheel, its shaft K, and sprocketwheel C are rotated, also giving the main axle and its wheels substantially one revolution and the .car a movement forward of about seven feet. Then the full rot-ation of the wheel J has been made, the extended end U of the frame N strikes a lug, S, on the frame l or one of itsY bearings, and this oscillates it against the action of the springs z' and releases the band M from wheel.

L, which continues to rotate, and the momentum of the car carries it forward, and the slackening on the rope or chain f allowsthe springs fi to return the wheel J and connections to their normal or original position, and in so returning the effect of the spring and also the movement of wheel L is to keep the band M loose. When the parts return to their original position, the frame N at its end may rest against the frame I at T, Fig. et, and the lock G is dropped to hold the draw-bar from being pulled out upon further action of the horses while the car is in motion. It will be noticed that in the mechanical action of this starter the two rods O and P are alternately acting' as fulcrums, according as to whether the band is 'to be released from the wheel L or tightened upon it.

l do not conllnc myself; to the details of construction, as the parts may be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of my invention. For instance, one modification of this apparatus is shown in Fig. 6, in which the same letters correspond to similar parts in the other iguresah'eady described. ln this case the groovcd wheel .l has a groove of the same radius, and G is the lock for the wheel J in place of acting on the draw-bar. This lock G is moved into or out of place by a link, lli, which in turn may be locked down by a pivoted foot-lock, ll, to prevent the lock G from moving out of the way of the wheel J. In this case the rope f has its end connected with the piece N, and the spring l p in this case would be connected to the inner rod, P, while the outer rod, O, would be pivot-ed to the wheel J. lVhen the rope f pulls the wheel J around, it operates the lever-piece N and makes the band M grip the wheel L to propel the car. XVhen the ropef is released the spring would pull upon the rod P and release the band M.

The mere details of construction may be modified in various ways without changing the principles of the invention, and hence l (lo not limit myself thereto.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isy

l. Inv a car-starter, the combination of an exten sible draw-bar, a wheel operated thereby, a friction-clutch wheel, and a friction-clutch band encircling said friction-clutch wheel, a-

band-tightening connection between the band and wheel Aoperated by the draw-bar, anda power-connection for connecting the frictionclutch wheel and axle of the vehicle.

2. In a car-starter, the combination of an extensible d raw-bar, a wheel operated thereby, a friction-clutch wheel, a friction-clutch band encircling said friction-clutch wheel, a bandtightening connection between the band and wheel operated by the draw-bar, a power-connection for connecting the friction -cluteh wheel and axle of the vehicle, and a spring to return the draw-bar and its wheel to their normal position after the vehicle has started.;

3. In a car-starter, the combination of an extensible draw-bar, a lock to prevent said draw-bar being drawn out except when desired, a wheel operated thereby, a frictionclutch wheel, and a friction-clutch band encircling said friction-clutch wheel, a bandtightening connection between the band and wheel operated by the draw-bar, and a powerconnection between the friction-clutch wheel and axle of the vehicle.

4:. In a car-starter, the combination of an extensible draw-bar, a lock to prevent said draw-bar being drawn out except when desired, a wheel operated thereby, a frictionclutch wheel, and a friction-clutch band encircling' said friction-clutch wheel, a bandtightening connection between the band and wheel operated bythe draw-bar, a power-connection for connecting the friction-clutch wheel and axle of the vehicle, and a spring acting' upon the band-tightening connection to make it unclutch the band-wheel and return the draw-bar and its wheel to their original and normal position.

5. The combination, in a car-starter, of a IOO IIO

power-shaft having a friction-wheel secured thereto, a loose wheel supported concentric with said shaft, a draw-bar, a connection between said draw-bar and loose wheel, a lock to hold said draw-bar from being pulled out except when desired, a friction-band encircling the friction-wheel, and a band-tighten ing device carried by the loose wheel.

6. The combination, ina car-starter, olf a power-shaft having a 'friction-wheel secured thereto, a loose wheel supported concentric with said shaft and having a spirally-lormed rope or chain surface, a draw-bar, a flexible connection between said draw-har and loose wheel, a lock to hold said draw-bar from being pulled out except when desired, a friction-band encircling the friction-wheel, and a bandstightening device carried by the loose wheel.

7. The combination, in a carstarter, oi'a power-shaft having a frictionavheel secured thereto, a loose wheel supported concentric with said shaft, a draw-bar, a connection between said draw-bar and loose wheel, a lock to hold said draw-bar from being pulled out except when desired, a friction-band encircling the friction-wheel, a band-tightening device carriedv by the loose wheel, and a spring to return the d raw-bar and loose wheel t0 their normal position after being put in motion.

8. The combination, in a car-starter, of a power-shaft having a friction-wheel secured thereto, a loose wheel supported concentric with said shaft and having a spi1'allyformed rope or chain surface, a d raw-bar, a flexible connection between said drawbar and loose wheel, a `lock to hold said draw-bar from being pulled out except when desired, a tric?, tion-band encircling ihe friction wheel, a l

band-tightening device carried bythe loose wheel, and a spring to return the draw-bar and loose wheel to their normal position after being put in motion.

fl. The combination, in a car-starter, of a power-shaft having a friction-wheel secured thereto, a loose wheel supported concentric with said shaft, a draw-bar, a connection between said draw-bar and loose wheel, a lock 1o hold said draw-bar from being pulled out except when desired, a :friction-band encircling the friction-wheel, a band-tightening device carried by the loose wheel, consisting of a frame pivoted to the loose wheel at its inner end and having connections with the two ends ot' the friction-band and at different distances lfrom the pivotseonnection of the frame, and a spring connected to the inner of said band-connections to release the friction-band and return the loose wheel to its normal position.

10. The combination, in a car-starter, of a power-shaft having a friction-wheel secured thereto, a loose wheel supported concentric with said shaft, a drawbar, a connection between said draw-bar and loose wheel, a lock to hold said draw-bar from being Apulled out except when desired, a friction-band encir cling the friction-wheel, a band-tightening device carried by the loose wheel, consisting of the pivoted frame N, having a hinge-connection at n with the loose wheel and having rods O P connecting with the ends of the friction-band, and a spring acting upon the rod P to release the friction-band and return the loose wheel to its original position.

1l. The combination, in a car-starter, of a power-shaft having a friction-wheel secured thereto, a loose wheel supported concentric with said shaft, a draw-bar, a connection between said draw-bar and loose wheel, a lock to hold said drawbar from being pulled out except when desired, a friction-band encircling the friction-wheel, a band-tightening device carried by the loose wheel, consisting of the pivoted frame N, having` a hinge-connection at n with the loose wheel and having an extension, U, and having rodsV O P conn ecting with the en ds of the friction-band, a spring acting upon the rod P to release the frictionband and return the loose wheel to its original position, and a stop, S, in the path of said extension U, to automatically release the friction-band when the loose wheel has made a given portion of a revolution.

'lhe combination of the axle ot the car, a car starter having a spirally arranged groove or surface, a draw-bar and ehainor rope therefor, a sprocket-wheel on th e axle and the shaft ofthe car-starter and of different diameters, and a chain connecting said sprocket-wheels and in which the smallest radius of the spiral groove is substantially equa-l to the radius of the smallest sprocket-wheel which secured to the car-starter shaft.

In testimony of which invention I hereunto set my hand.

.ionN n. PALMER.

W itn esses: ERNEST HOWARD HUNTER, HENRY DRURY.

IOO 

